Morocco is attending the 20th Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which is being place in The Hague from December 6 to 11.

The Kingdom is represented at this session as an observer by a delegation led by the Moroccan Ambassador to The Hague, Abdelouahab Bellouki.

The Assembly of States Parties is the International Criminal Court’s main administrative and legislative body. It is made up of delegates from governments that have accepted the Rome Statute, as well as observer states, invited states, international and regional organizations, and civil society representatives.

The Assembly has a Bureau that consists of a president, two vice presidents, and 18 members who are chosen for three years while keeping in mind the ideals of equitable geographical distribution and adequate representation of the major extant legal systems.

The Assembly of States Parties decides on various subjects, such as the adoption of normative texts and the budget, as well as the election of Judges, the Prosecutor or his Deputies.

The 20th session of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, chaired by Argentinian lawyer Silvia Fernández de Gurmendi, shall elect two Deputy Prosecutors, following the election of the new Prosecutor, Britain’s Karim Khan, earlier this year.

It is also anticipated to accept the Court’s yearly budget, which has been growing at a near-zero rate since 2017, as the gap between the International Criminal Court’s workload and the resources at its disposal increases.

Eventually, the 20th session of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) is expected to consider an in-depth report on the Court’s operation and performance prepared by independent experts.

Over the past year, the Court’s member states, with the support of civil society organizations, have begun to evaluate almost 400 suggestions contained in the report. The Assembly is likely to take notice of the progress made and pass a resolution requesting that the report be reconsidered next year.

The International Criminal Court investigates and, where necessary, judges’ persons accused of the most heinous crimes that affect the entire international community: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and aggression.

Since 2003, the International Criminal Court’s Office of the Prosecutor has been investigating a number of cases that fall under the Court’s jurisdiction, including those in Afghanistan, Bangladesh / Myanmar, Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, Darfur (Sudan), Georgia, Kenya, Libya, Mali, Uganda, Palestine, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Venezuela.

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